A Pinay mom from Cavite and Rizal blogs on her insights & anecdotes about her Filipino family life, home, motherhood, parenting, lifestyle, health, home & fitness tips, entertainment, current issues and more...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

PR! The mighty Google has once again waved its mighty wand and has merited page ranks to deserving sites. The italics in the word deserving because I truly question the basis of page ranking. Why? This blog is still PR 0 despite its technorati rank, izea real ranks, link popularity and backlinks. This site has all the markings of at least a PR 2. I do not question other sites but mine. You see, my other blog, Manna from Heaven has now a PR 3!

Manna from Heaven is my two-month old personal inspirational blog. It has very few posts and links. I just keep the blog to vent and air my spiritual inspirations or sometimes, my lack of it. On the other hand, And Life Goes On , is a personal blog that airs all my angsts aside from making it a venue for paid ads and reviews. It had a PR 4 for an hour or two, then poof! Zero again.

Having said that, now I know why this blog is zilch. We, paid bloggers, have been warned of paid links and reviews. Reviewing sites and products and putting backlinks to these sites count as paid links that Google does not like. Um.. so the G robot read my paid-review-links and other non-adsense click-to-get-paid links and decided to count my site out?

Page Ranking counts to bloggers like me who earn extra for product and service reviews. The higher the PR, the more opportunities are available. What good is my PR 3 in my inspirational blog? Should I start to use that blog for paid reviews?

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I was about to log off and call it a day when this caption caught my attention: The Worst Foods in America. With piqued curiosity, I clicked on the link. There are 20 listed worst foods in the US categorized under worst salad, worst burger, worst kid's meal, worst chicken meal, etc. The food are labeled worst because of the caloric, fat and carbohydrate contents.

The king of them all is the worst food title given to Outback's Steakhouse Aussies Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing. At 2,900 calories per order, this food is equivalent to eating 14 donuts. Note that to gain one pound is to eat 3,000 calories more that you burn for the day. Now we know why we're fat! Sigh!

My son and a couple of his teammates have been looking for an apartment or condominium or house to rent for the coming academic year. I have my own list of requirements. The place has to be a stone throw away from their school for easy commute. The place has to be secure and the neighborhood peaceful. The place has to have passed the fire code in that zone: should be clean and presentable and of course, affordable.

They have found a condo unit in one of the neighboring villages near the school. It is a well-ventilated and lighted 2-bedroom unit with two toilets and baths, a compact kitchen-dining-living room and a squeeze-tight laundry area. The building itself has 24/7 security guard, working fire escapes, an elevator, 2 sets of stairwells, a penthouse, and a weight's room. The architect in me gave the place 7/10. Not bad.How much? It's 12,000 Php per month excluding utilities. So that will be 4,000 Php as my son's share of the rent plus water and electricity bills. Umm.. okay still within my price range. However, we need to make a 2 month's deposit and one month advance bringing the total to 36,000 Php down payment which translates to 12,000 Php for my son's initial share.

But that is robbery! I told my son. But mom!!.... cried the son. Okay. Let's see the contract so wecan sign right away. As I read the contract the more I became convinced that the owner was indeed a legitimate robber.

Aside from the 36,000 Php deposit and advance, we need to issue 12 checks for the association fee of 2,350 Php per month. What association fees? I asked.

Oh, that's usual for condo units, you know, to use for the 24/7 security guards said the thief err, owner. There are 60 units in the building multiply that by 2350 Php totals 141,000 Php allotted for the guards' salary. Wow, lucky guards indeed!

Well, what about the clause that says the lessee have to pay for the real estate taxes, fire insurance , and other related fees?, I exclaimed, my eyes bulging, which was really not intimidating as I am chinky-eyed. There is also no guarantee that we can get back our 36,000 Php deposit and advance since you might qualify the unit in need of major repairs because of misuse!, I added.

Ah, well that's the way it goes here the owner said quite irritated.

I conferred with the parents of my son's teammates. They were also astounded by the seemingly unfair terms of the owner. We said no to our devastated sons. They were so bent on that condo unit. To ease their aching hearts, I promised to go apartment-hunting with them on Thursday.

Monday, April 28, 2008

I was clearing my desk this afternoon when I chanced upon the three old notebooks that I used when I was involved in internet marketing. These notebooks contained my accounts and passwords to the various programs that I have joined in my short 2-year stint in online money making schemes.

I was doing advertising through e-mail marketing and paid ads on surf sites. I was actually shocked to find out that during the peak of my crazy internet episode I was a member of about 10,000 safelists. Now, you may ask, what the heck is a safelist?

A safelist is a type of e-mail marketing and advertising where the members signed-up and agreed to receive each others messages of advertising. Usually, the safelist administration reserves the right to mail its members. A member logs in into his account and types in his ads and send it to the safelist's members. Types of safelists include: Paid, Credit Based and Free.

I did not actually log-in to each of my accounts. I had three safelist submitters where I just typed in my ads and have it sent to available safelists of the day. Being a member to more than 10,000 safelists translated to approximately 100,000++ sent e-mails. Sometimes, I pay extra for a one-time send to 5 million e-mail addresses. Effective?

I sent 4,000 credit mailer with the subject Check this Out. A credit mailer gives you credit to advertise once you view an advertiser's site. Anyway, out of the 4,000 email ads I sent only 56 emails were credited or clicked through. That is only 1.4 % of 4,000 which means the click-through rate is not good.

Maybe the heading was not catchy enough. The content of the ad, none . All I wrote in the ad was my blog's URL. Anyway, the experiment resulted in 56 additional surprised (as in what theheck am I doing viewing this blog?) visitors to my site.

Paul McMann is not just your regular real estate agent. He is a recognized authority in the field of financial services having published articles relating to finance and management. He was a notable college professor teaching finance and management to both undergraduate and graduate levels at the Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts while on the side actively conducting management accounting methodology seminars.

Using his academic and financial expertise Paul McMann helped put up the Collegiate Professional Basketball League (CPBL). This group helped aspiring basketball athetes fulfill their dreams of a college education. Serving as both Founder and President of the now defunct league, he was able to get internet sponsorships that the athletes to receive an education and allowaces.Currently, he is working as a financial advisor to Blue Coast. He handles workers' compensation and electricity dregulation affiliate. Basicaly, he audits worker's compensation premiums and analyze the data to find ways and means to save the company loses due to policy errors and miscalculations. A company sometimes folds up due to errors in these areas.

With the rising cost of energy and fuel, consummers and high energy users are finding ways and means to manage their energy consumption and cost manageable. Paul McMann's job is to help draft a plan with the company to find a cosy-efficient and highly effective energy solutions.

He is now living in Weston, Massachusetts, managing his real estate development company in the general MetroWest vicinity. He is widely known and credited as Paul McMann or Paul J. Mcmann in the articles that he still writes for different finance-related publications.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

What online payment processor are you using? Let me guess. Since most of my readers are bloggers too and earning extra on paid blogging, the likely payment processor you use is Paypal. Right.

I dabbled in online marketing before I stumbled into the joy of blogging. I was into almost all conceivable racket known to internet marketing. Sadly, all ventures failed. But that's another story.When I started in online-money-making schemes, the only payment processor available for me was Stormpay. Paypal only became accessible in the Philippines in the last year or so. Stormpay was credible until it had a run-in with a very popular paid surf site know as 12DP or 12 DaiyProfit. Stormpay refused to pay the members of 12 DP claiming that the surfsite is illegal. Illegal or not, I think Stormpay blew the large amount of money deposited by 12 DP. I lost $290.

I also used E-gold. This payment processor values your money in gold. I really have no problem with this processor until September 2006. I was logged-in in my account when the power went off and stayed off for the next two weeks as a big typhoon hit Manila. When everything was normal again, I logged-in and found that I lost all my money ($480). My account was hacked! I checked the transactions and I was able to pinpoint the account number and e-mail address of the person who I was supposed to have sent the money. I called and wrote e-gold about the incident. They called and wrote me back saying they cannot retrieve my money. The company did not even ban the account that hacked mine.

There were other processors that I used like E-bullion, SFIPay, Alertpay and SafepaySolutions. I did not lose any money here but I either quit the programs or the programs that were using these processors folded. Oh and there are programs that send your earnings in checks like Clickbank. No problem with Clickbank as they do send your check payment. However, there is this one program that I joined in which I earned about $ 3,750.00. I am still waiting for the check that will never ever come.

I am new to Paypal and I still don't know if their site is hackable or not. A couple of years back I received an email from Paypal informing me that someone is trying to access my account and could I just please click on the link so I can access my account and see. I did not have an account in Paypal at that time. That e-mail was a hack!

Word of caution: don't ever access any online payment processor through links sent to your email.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

You won the sum of £1 000,000.00 GBP from our monthly Uk Lottery Promotion,

you are hereby adviced toget back to us, to claim your prize.Contact: Dr.Frank Millan Email:claims.uklottery2008@yahoo.de

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your email address has won $4.6M from the UK Lottery online drawsheld on the 18th April 2008 Lucky Number:MX014926583Contact Mr. Jonathan Ong with your official name,country,address,sex/age,tel,occupation,date of draw on(jonathanong20000@yahoo.com.hk)Tel+447045772228 for delivery of your cheque--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your E-Address was selected for category B in this weeksInternationalUnited Kingdom Lotto programme.These are your details.Your draw has a total value ofOne Million Pounds(£1,000.000.00).ticket number:56475600545188fileXYL/26510460037/05

Overnight, I won a total of 2 million pounds and 4.6 million dollars. That is according to the three e-mails I received. These e-mails are, obviously, fraudulent. You might agree with me that nobody in their right mind will believe these scams. Believe me, there are countless victims world wide.

This e-mail scam is similar to the Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme. You will be asked to send your personal details. Once you've done that , the scammer might stop since he has your details which could translate to identity theft or he might proceed with the next step. If the scammer continues, then his next step would be to ask you for processing fess which could amount anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.

My first experience with this kind of scam was in 2001, although I've been using the internet,(dial-up internet connection with a speed of 28 kbs ?) since 1998. I received a letter from a certain woman who claimed she was dying of cancer. She said she found my e-mail add from a church organization data base. Being naive to scams, I answered her e-mail. She said she was going to leave me $ 48 million because she has no family and relatives to leave the money to. Taking into consideration my-no-knowledge of scams, who would not fall for that? Mirriam, that was her scam name, sent me phone numbers and addresses where I can reach her solicitor.

I e-mailed the solicitor and he said that I need to forward my personal details and about $15,000 for processing and transfer fees. The large amount of fees set me thinking. I became wary and I asked my cousin who is a lawyer. He said that the scam is commonly known as Nigerian 419 which started (through slow mail) in the early 80's. Poof! goes my $48 M.

There are so many scam programs in the net today. There are MLMs, affiliate marketing, money randomizer and cycler, surf sites, pay per click or view and others. Be wary. Practice diligence.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I am highly irritable today because of my worsening cold. I tried to just relax in my bedroom with the air conditioner on high. Bad idea. The cool dry air made my nose clogged up that eventually brought a bout of coughing. The 18 degree Celsius temperature made me shiver too.

I turned off the air conditioner. It was okay for a while but after an hour, the cool temperature turned into warm then hot. The hot airless room made me sweat. I turned on the electric fan.Worst decision ever. The warm air coming from the electric fan dried my sweat making me cough more and my nose run. I finally called my daughter.

What do I take to cure my cold?

Do you have fever?

No!

Does your throat hurt when you swallow?

No!

Do you have coughs and a runny nose?

Yup! and muscle aches too and my taste buds conked out one me.

Oh it might be that you just have the common cold mom and there's no medicine for that. I'll just give you something for your runny nose and coughs.

I bought the medicines. Took them together with vitamin C and a pain reliever. I went back to my bedroom, turned the air conditioner back on this time to 20 degrees Celsius.

I kept thinking of ways to make my life less miserable due to this common cold. I thought of these home remedies that works for me.

1. Drink plenty of fluids as in water or orange juice or better yet, calamansi juice.2. Steam inhalation to loosen your clogged up nose and congested chest.3. Take plenty of rest and lie down with your head slightly elevated.4. Put a small amount of mentholated salve (vicks! ) under your nose and on your chest. I actually put on a generous amount of vicks on the soles of my feet then put on socks. Works wonders for me.5. Take a warm quick shower.6. Call Lea for a full body massage. ( I already did. She's not available)7. Stop blogging. Turn off the laptop.

So what am I doing blogging? Sick or not, life goes on. I just had to check my e-mail for I've been expecting one from my brother. In the course of my checking, I saw an anonymously written comment on my Black Suede post. He/She/It said that I am ignorant. Let me clarify that anonymous #2 called me ignorant because I wrote that the highly publicized rectal surgical procedure was interesting. Umm... that set me thinking. (If you can actually declare my brain to be capable of the task). Just what does ignorant means?

According to my favorite online dictionary, ignorant means:

1. lacking in knowledge or training. True, I am not a doctor but do I need to be one for me to say that the surgical procedure was interesting?

2.lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact. I did not report on the surgical procedure. I merely wrote what I have read and gave my two cents.

3 uninformed. unaware. Oh I was aware of the incident.

4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement. Was commenting that I find the much-viewed-and-talked-about surgical procedure interesting validates that I am indeed ignorant?

If that is ignorance, than we have a lot of ignoramuses traipsing about, happily.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Remember the food group taught in elementary school? There are six food groups according to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. They are grains, vegetables, fruits, fats and oil, milk, and protein (meat, fish, egg, beans).

There is a new food group. Fast Food! These types of food, for the past 40 years or so, have been effectively and consistently integrated to our daily food intake. Because of fast food: we can eat at a drop of a hat anytime, anywhere. Because of fast food, we are fat.

We cannot totally avoid fast food restaurants. However, we can be smart in eating fast food. There are actually tricks on how to eliminate a few calories from fast food. Here are some tips.

Choose egg mcmuffin instead of sausage for it's about 100 calories less. Scrape away the mayo from sandwiches. Order plain rice instead of fried for breakfast meals. Stop lathering your pancakes with butter and syrup. Using only two tablespoon of syrup translate to 200 calories less. Do not eat the crunchy-tasty-crispy-fat-laden skin of your already deep-fried chicken. Chicken skin is a goldmine of fat and cholesterol. Eat white meat instead of dark meat. If you can't help eating French fries, try wiping the extra oil by paper napkin. Do no eat the whole order.

Choose wheat or whole grain bread for sandwiches. Select veggie and mushroom toppings for pizza. Avoid fruit shakes and smoothies for your meal. Theses concoctions actually have monster calorie-count. Drink water instead or get a diet soda if you must. Stop treating yourself to fancy- calorie-laden-coffee and chocolate drinks. Choose the plainest.

Losing weight is not just regulating your kilo-joules intake and exercising to burn-off fat. Losing weight is adopting a new and healthy way of eating... even fast food!

I got it wrong! Jason and Brooke are still on! Carly was mistakenly voted out! America, you voted incorrectly.

I just can't believe that Carly's powerful rendition of Jesus ChristSuperstar did not convince the American public. Jason, I assume, got votes because of the way he looks- cute to the max! Brooke, I think, got sympathy votes. Carly, even with her powerful voice, did not exude enough magnetism to sail through the competition.

Worry not, Carly. You have a real talent in singing and I just hope that scouts and agents are lurking by your door now. More power to you!

I wonder how Jason and Brooke felt when they were voted safe? Did Jason say OMG, I fooled them again! Have to add more highlights to my super-duper long crop.

Is Brooke planning on winning the competition by continuously projecting a pitiful image every time her performance is lambasted by the judges?

It's 1:06 a.m. and I just finished watching American Idol 7. There are only six contestants left: Jason Castro, David Cook, David Archuleta, Brooke White, Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson. The week's theme songs are those composed by the brilliant British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

My first encounter with Webber was in the 70's when his musical Jesus Christ Superstar was premiered and became a hit. The compositions of Webber are not easy to sing because of the great voice range called for.

Tonight, the brilliant performers were Syesha, the two Davids and Carly. I would say it is goodbye to either Jason or Brooke this week. Jason sang Memory from Cats. Hearing his interpretation made me cringe. Heck! I think it even made Jason cringe! Brooke, her voice strained and unsuitable, forgot the lyrics of You Must Love Me from Evita.Now we wait.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Are you young, beautiful and has the makings of a glamorous jet-setting fashion model? Now here is your chance of a lifetime.

Join an online beauty contest at http://www.lookoftheyear.com The beauty contest has four categories open to both girls and boys ages 14 -19 and 19 above. A top ten list for each category will be published each month with the finals set on December 2008.

Give online visitors the privilege to vote for you. Join now and have the chance to win $10,000!

The temperature today reached 37 degrees Celsius. That is roughly equivalent to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That is hot! hot!hot!

I am now sunburned. No, I have not been to the beach yet. I really do not like the beach, as a matter of fact. I try to keep freckles and melasma off my face that is why I stay away from the sun. I really take precautions.

I slather sunblock on my face before I leave the house. My sunblock claims to block UVA and UVB rays. I use an umbrella while walking under the intense heat of the Philippine sun. I re-apply sunscreen as needed. Still, I see myself getting progressively sunburned.

The heck with sunblocks having an SPF of 45. If I normally get sunburned in 10 minutes then using a sunscreen with an SPF pf 45 would mean I am safe from burning in a time span of 450 minutes or 7 hours and 50 minutes. Umm. Not true at all. You see, I just found out that conventional sunscreen with a high SPF does block UVA rays effectively.

Even some products labeled "broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection" do not provide good protection against UVA rays. The best UVA protection is provided by products that contain zinc oxide, avobenzone, and ecamsule. Titanium dioxide probably gives good protection, but does not completely cover the entire UV-A spectrum.

Ultraviolet A causes invisible damage and skin aging and does not cause reddening or pain. This is the culprit that makes me darker and gives me age spots and wrinkles! Drat!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Today is Earth Day. If we continue to abuse our planet, the planet's demise together with its inhabitants (that's us!) is not far behind.

It has become a universal concern to protect the environment. Global changes in climate are happening;the sea level is changing; air and water are getting more polluted. There is scarcity of food. We should be aware of all these. We have the future of our children and our children's children to consider.

What can we do to help? Here are some real-easy-to-follow green tips for you.

1. Remember the 3 Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2. Conserve water. Cutting short your shower time may be your contribution to saving the earth. Water the plants early in the morning.

3. Drive slowly. Do not accelerate and brake aggressively as these lower your mileage.

4. Unplug electrical appliances such as television, DVD players, chargers, computers when not in use. Turn off lights that are not needed.

5. If you can, turn off your car engine when caught in traffic. Do not idle.

These tips are easy enough to follow. If each and everyone of us could contribute in saving our environment, let us!

Traffic along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, EDSA for you, is getting worse. I just can't figure out why? Why? The pace of driving has slowed to a crawl. It is so tiring and irritating to drive any segment of the 42 kilometer highway.

Some weeks ago, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has implemented strict compliance of public bus transportation companies regarding their route lines. Colorum (illegal) lines were apprehended and a lot of buses were taken off EDSA. Traffic actually became lighter.

The average travel speed at EDSA improved from 22 kph up to 65 kph which,according to MMDA report, resulted to more road accidents that lead to even greater congestion. The MMDA also said that the unbearably hot-humid-summer causes a lot of cars to overheat leading to stalled vehicles along the length of EDSA therefore causing unmitigated traffic.

Ummm.. can I therefore safely conclude that traffic at EDSA is caused by the banning of colorum buses and the unbelievable summer heat?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Are you a perpetual dieter? By perpetual I mean are you always dieting, wanting to lose a few pounds to look good in a swim suit?

It's summer once again and it is time to take a good look at the extra pounds we've accumulated last Christmas ( ten years ago!). Anyway I will share some real easy tips on how to lose weight or keep your ideal weight.

First do not deprive yourself of 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleeping releases serotonin and dopamine, the two feel-good brain chemicals. If you are sleep-deprived your body will crave for the feel-good chemicals and there's an easy way to do that. NO! not drugs, sweets! Notice how you feel like stuffing yourself with sugary food once you lack sleep.

Next, do something. I do not mean run the block or go up and down the stairs for the sake of moving. I mean keep your brain and hands occupied. Surfing the net or blogging or playing computer games is actually better than you watching TV. If you do cross-stitch or you knit, hey these are two more ways to keep brain and hands busy. Next time you feel like opening the fridge, turn on the computer instead.

Avoid too much food choices. Too much choices mean too much eating. Decreasing choices decreases temptation. If you have to eat grilled chicken and salad every lunch, so be it.

A couple of things have been nagging me since I read the story behind the Vicente Sotto Hospital Scandal aka Black Suede Scandal aka JanJan Issue.

First, is the Vicente Sotto in the hospital's name a relative of Vic Sotto? I am quite sure that somehow these two namesakes are related. Second, the gay guy got wind of the video through a friendly tip by one of his neighbors. I watched the video and the patient's face was never shown. How did the neighbor know that it was gay guy's rectum that was being operated on and shown on the net?

The gay guy knew that his surgery was videotaped and he did not demand to get the original copy . Does this mean that videotaping his procedure had his consent? Fourth, were they finally able to pinpoint who published the video on the net? I read somewhere that a nursing intern was the culprit. If this was so, the only issue regarding the medical staff would have been their joking and laughing at the patients' predicament while they were doing the surgery. Is this enough ground for the revocation of their licenses?

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Have you heard about the Vicente Sotto Hospital Scandal or what is notoriously labeled the Black Suede Scandal? Here it is in a nutshell.

Apparently a gay guy met a stranger on Dec. 31, 2007 in his hometown of Cebu city. One thing led to another and they ended up having, well, sex. Our gay guy said that he was so drunk that after the first round of sex he remembered telling the stranger to please not do anything kinky when the stranger asked him if he can, well, use a foreign object for their sex play. That being said the gay guy said he fell asleep.

In the morning, he found that the stranger has left. He looked around the room and found that one of his cologne canisters (Black Suede) was missing. Umm... that was pretty quick and alert of him considering his apparent state of drunkenness the previous night. Anyway the gay guy got up to pee and found it hard to. He suspected foul play and with his mother (I think), consulted a doctor. It was found that a cylindrical object was shoved up his rectum. The object, perpendicular to his spine. The only solution to his predicament was an operation.

On January 3, 2007, his operation was scheduled. Upon entry into the operating room, he noticed that there were so many people in the OR. He was about to complain but the anesthesia was already kicking in. The operation was a success and he thought that was that!

Two weeks after the surgery, he went back to the doctor for check-up. The doctor said his procedure was videotaped (for medical purposes I assume) and asked if he would want a copy. Gay guy said no but requested to please keep the video under wraps.

Two months after, one concerned neighbor tipped him about the video published in a leading social site. Thus started the saga of the VSH (Vicente Sotto Hospital) Scandal.

I was able to watch the video before it was pulled out of the internet. The OR was noisy but that was not really remarkable as conversations are done in the OR. There were many medical staff present, again something not out of the ordinary as the hospital is a teaching hospital. One can expect a heavy turn-out of nursing interns, medical junior interns, post-grad interns and other residents. The doctors and nurses were giggling but I guess they were doing their job as there were no reports of complications by the patient.

The gay-guy-patient-victim is now suing the hospital and the involved medical staff. In the meantime, the hospital has sanctioned the concerned medical staff. Many are outraged for they said it was a violation of human rights. The consensus among comments that I have read condemn these doctors and nurses and cried that their licenses should be revoked.

It is a lazy Sunday. I slept late or shall I say early morning, because I waited for my son to get home from a party. I still feel sleepy but I just have to open my e-mail, browse on my blog and other stuff before I go home to Taytay. I just have to go visit my cousin, the one who was hospitalized a few weeks back. I have been informed that her disease is progressive.

I just feel so sad. I guess there's nothing left to do but follow the doctor's recommended therapies, and pray unceasingly for God's mercy. Being human, I sometimes cannot help but question the fairness of life. My cousin is single and lives alone with her two German shepherds. She is active in church and is a sponsor to many financially-stressed students. Why did she have to get sick? She is doing a lot of good for God's glory and the community.

However, this thought is transient. I know that God has plans for each and everyone of us. IN times of trouble and doubt I an comforted by Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact alindog311@yahoo.com.This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

As we were eating dinner, I nonchalantly asked daughter # 4 her grades for the last tri-mester. She was in school to get her classcards.

Oh, I got an average of 3.9 mom (4.00 being the highest). She made the first honors list again. Considering her double-degree course, thesis #1 that she submitted, thesis #2 that is in the drawing board, her extra-curricular activities and her regular load in school, I would say that was quite a feat.

As we were laughing and being happy with #4's academic honors, son came in ready to sit down for dinner too.

Note: Philippine universities vary in their grading systems. Most have a grading system of 1 to 5 with 1 as the highest, 5 as fail and 4 as conditional. A grade of four requires the student to retake the final exams. Some has a grading system of 4 to 1 with 4 as the highest, 1 as the lowest and 0 for fail.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours of the occurrence. That is hard as not anyone can recognize the signs of a stroke. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke .

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking the person suspected of having a stroke to do three simple tasks.S* Ask the individual to SMILE.The person should be able to smile. Ask the person to stick out his tongue. If the tongue is crooked or favors a side, that is not good.T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE coherently (i.e. It is sunny today). If this cannot be done or speech is garbled, then something is wrong.R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.This task should be done easily. If not, then it is an indication of an anomaly.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. Here in the Philippines, it is best to bring the victim to the emergency.

Yesterday's post was about the damaging effects on the brain of some habits that we have. Today's organ of focus is the liver.The liver is the largest organ and gland in the human body. What are the major functions of the liver?The primary functions of the liver are:

Bile production and excretion

Excretion of bilirubin, cholesterol, hormones, and drugs

Metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates

Enzyme activation

Storage of glycogen, vitamins, and minerals

Synthesis of plasma proteins, such as albumin, and clotting factors

Blood detoxification and purification

Damage to the liver would definitely jeopardize our health. Who's gonna metabolize my fat?Who's gonna activate my enzyme? wails the brain. To take good care of the liver, the following are suggested.

1. Do not sleep late than compensate by waking up late.

2. Make sure you urinate in the morning after getting out of bed.

3. Do not overeat.

4. Do not skip breakfast.

5. Do not take unnecessary medications.

6. Do not consume too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener. Notice that all junk foods have preservatives and food coloring.

7. Do not consume too much unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying. Do not consume too much fried foods. Notice thatfastfoodfood swim in oil. Before you order that French fries, think again. An occasional treat is alright.

8. Do not consume too much raw food. The liver works overtime when we eat raw food. It is advisable to eat veggies raw/cooked in a 3:5 proportion. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting. Do not store.

There are herbs that are beneficial to the liver. The following herbs/plants are proven beneficial to the liver and helps in its regeneration: milk thistle, dandelion root, licorice root and chicory root.

10. Talking rarely: Not a problem as I need to shut up. Man, you need to talk to someone intelligent! I know dogs and babies are cute and intelligent beings but you need to have a conversation, not a monologue. Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.

If I were to recount all the trials that life brought me, you might not believe it. If I tell you, as I seem to happily blog everyday, that I am full of problems, you might not believe me too.

But I do have problems. My life is not easy. I sometimes have sleepless nights thinking of ways and means to my problems. Nevertheless, it is seldom that you'll see me defeated. Somehow I still find the inspiration to bounce back. Why? I have a secret that is not a secret, actually.

We serve a great and mighty God. He can make a way when there seems to be no way! He was able to create the world out of nothing! How easy would it be for Him to breathe a whiff of sunlight to our sometimes dark lives. He is my secret.

There is power in your words, in your prayers. Have faith and expectancy. Let your life be filled with peace that passes all understanding. God loves you and me!

It is estimated that there are over 70,000,000 blogs in the blogosphere. There is a current experiment to see how fast can a million blogs register at a certain site. The name of the experiment is Million Blog List - A blogosphere experiment.

Get your blogs listed. Take a poll and guess how long it will take for the million blogs to get listed.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Yup! Kristy Lee Cook is out of the American Idol picture. It was a Mariah Carey week for the AI-7 top eight. Kristy sang Anyway, a song totally alien to me. Kristy did alright, even Simon said so. I thought Brooke White would be the one voted out as she totally failed to deliver last night. She sped-up the tempo of her song Hero bar per bar.

Carly Smithson also did not do so great with her son Ken Lee, oooopppss! I mean Can't Live orbetter yet, Without You. David sang When You Believe. He sang it with so much conviction and the timbre of his voice was perfect for the song. Syesha sang Vanishing another unheard-of song for me. It was technically good but there's no "it" in the way she sang. Jason, once again, cute-sied his way into the night. Voice-quality-wise, Jason has none. He continues to remain in AI-7 because he is so appealing. The star of the night was David Cook. His interpretation of Always Be My Baby borders on genius!

I predict ( as if!) that it will be a final battle between the two Davids. Umm.... so who do you think will be Goliath?

Summer vacation just isn't summer break anymore. Summer is now regarded as an extension of the regular school year but with concentration on extra-curricular activities such as swimming, soccer, ballet, hip-hop, taekwondo, gymnastics, basketball, ice-skating, tennis and badminton clinics, golf lessons, music lessons and what-have -you.

There are programs for speaking and writing better English and reinforcement classes for Math and Science too. There are institutes that offer to teach basic cooking and baking. Oh and don't forget those that give lessons on acting, singing and dancing for "artista" wanna-bes. Have you heard about summer camps that deal with enhancing your kid's EQ and IQ?

As early as February, flyers or brochures are given out to students by schools and other such facilities. Class, give the brochures to your parents. The school will have worthwhile summer activities that you need to enroll in. These summer programs will make you better persons. These programs will help you cope with the demands of growing up (huh?) The violin lessons might turn you into another Vanessa-Mae. You definitely have the potential of Beckham or Woods!

There is nothing wrong with summer activities for children. I totally was into it when my kids were growing up. I started each one of them with summer activities at age three. There were ballet workskops, piano and voice lessons, flute and guitar lessons for the girls. There was golf, and saxophone for the boy.

I do not favor for summer activities to be just that: for the summer. After 12 sessions, the ballet class ended with a culminating activity. The soccer class ended with a tune-up game against another club.

Time and money considered, wouldn't it be better if lessons are continued throughout the year and not just for the summer?

We are right smack in the middle of Philippine summer. It is so hot it's a task to even lift a finger. Last night I decided to make tacos. I bought some soft tortillas, taco shells and ground beef. I set about doing my cooking in my kitchen. Alas, my kitchen has no air conditioner.

While browning the ground beef, I crushed some garlic cloves, diced onions and readied my chili powder. I proceeded to saute the ground beef, as sweat was beading on my forehead, nape and back. I then took out the tomatoes and lettuce from the crisper. Ahh... a breath of cool air from the refrigerator. I diced the tomatoes and tear into bite-size pieces the lettuce. The beads of perspiration are now in my arms and legs. I got the cheese out to grate. I grated the whole block of cheese since my son loves to blanket his taco with it. My shirt has started to stick in all places.

Okay. A couple more things to do. Heat the soft tortillas on the non-stick pan. Heat the taco shells in the toaster oven. Done! Okay everyone do you own taco! Me? No thank you. I was dripping in sweat. I would just like to go in my bedroom, set the air conditioner at 16 degrees, change my shirt, lie down on my bed and cool down.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Are you looking for a way to lower your long distance bills? Are you one of those who get frustrated with the ridiculously high prices of domestic and international phone calls? Phone Cards Avenue is an online provider of cheap domestic international phone cards.

My brother and his family lives in New Jersey while my family and I stay in Manila. We keep tab of each other through phone calls. One time, my brother stopped calling for quite a while. I emailed him and asked. He said, his last phone bill amounted to $280.00. That started our quest for online phone cards.

Phone Card Avenue has a varied selection of phone cards that you can choose from. Getting one is so easy. You just pick your call destination, choose the phone card that you prefer, pay for the card through very secure online processor, the get the PIN. Enter the PIN on your phone, punch in the numbers and voila!

The calling cards offer great voice quality and have a real good value for you money. Stop missing your loved ones. Call them now with your phone cards.

Rant Rant! Rant! The traffic here in Metro Manila is just unbelievable! The price of gas continues to go up and it is every motorist's wish to save on its usage. But.How.Can.We if traffic within the metropolis is a nightmare?

I have long ago dissected the cause of heavy traffic in Metro Manila. One: the traffic enforcers (the local traffic enforcers of each municipality/city) are just plain incompetent and unqualified. Did these enforcers go to traffic schools or seminars?: or were they just tapped on their shoulders and unceremoniously ordained traffic aids by the Barangay captain? This afternoon, the traffic aid in my third-world-municipality's major intersection, once again signaled opposing lanes to GO simultaneously!Again, turmoil happened and a lot of curses were directed to the traffic aid. I have read that the average educational attainment of these traffic aids is grade three.

Second: undisciplined drivers of both private and public vehicles. It is a nightmare to drive along main thoroughfares as zig-zagging in the road is a favorite activity of the majority of Filipino drivers. Never mind the sometimes non-existent traffic lines on the road. A Filipino driver just have to change lane every minute, come hell or high water. Slow drivers hug the fast lane. Fast drivers overtake slow ones at the right side. Motorcycles cut through cars and buses. Public transports load and unload anywhere, anytime, any day. It is sheer miracle not to meet a road accident.

Third: undisciplined pedestrians. Metro Manila municipalities took a big dip on their budget in constructing overpasses and underpasses for pedestrians. Most of these constructions even have escalators and elevators for the pedestrians' ease. But do majority use the structures? No! They chooses to flirt and play with death against passing cars.

It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to my destination. The sun was cruelly hot so the car air conditioner was in full blast. The heavy traffic and the seemingly hot temperature made my car consume more gasoline than usual. Add to that the thirst that i just have to quench with a large light coke (with an order of nuggets on the side), I spent 870.00 Php to drive my son to varsity practice.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I found an interesting and highly informative article regarding the top 5 cancer-causing foods. I got the information from Naturalnews website. Guess what? We all have the cancer-causing food in our kitchens, and that two or maybe three of the foods are our kids' (and ours?) favorites. Here, from an article of Mike Adams are the culprit.

Hot dogs: The Cancer Prevention Coalition recommends that children should not eat more than 12 hot dogs per month because of the risk of cancer. If you must have your hot dog fix, look for those without sodium nitrite listed among the ingredients.

Processed meats and bacon: These meats almost always contain the same sodium nitrite found in hot dogs. You can find some without nitrites, but you'll have to look for them in natural grocers or health food stores. Bacon is also high in saturated fat, which contributes to the risk of cancers, including breast cancer. Limiting your consumption of processed meats and saturated fats also benefits the heart.

Doughnuts: Doughnuts contain hydrogenated oils, white flour, sugar, and acrylamides. Essentially, they're one of the worst cancer foods you can possibly eat. Reader's Digest calls doughnuts "disastrous" as a breakfast food, and many experts agree it's probably one of the worst ways to start the day.

French fries: Fries are made with hydrogenated oil and fried at high temperatures. Some chains even add sugar to their fry recipe to make them even more irresistible. Not only do they clog your arteries with saturated fat and trans fat, they also contain acrylamides. They should be called "cancer fries," not French fries.

Chips / crackers / cookies: These generally contain white flour and sugar as well as trans fats, but it's not enough to simply look for these ingredients on the label; you have to actually "decode" the ingredients list that food manufacturers use to deceive consumers. They do this by hiding ingredients (such as hiding MSG in yeast extract, or by fiddling with serving sizes so they can claim the food is trans fat free, even when it contains trans fats (the new Girl Scout cookies use this trick).

It is possible to avoid all these bad food but that would take a real-hard-core-devotion to the cause, which, I'm sure, I don't possess (neither do you). The key is moderation. Instead of eating hot dogs every morning for breakfast, serve it only once a week. Don't buy bacon anymore. It's expensive and literally dripping with fat. Stop buying Frech fries or donuts for the sake of shutting up your whining kid (ouch!). Instead of muching on cookies and chips while watching TV, munch on low-fat popcorn popped or fiber-rich cereals. Better yet, stop watching TV and do some household chores. Eat more vegetables and less sugary food. For goodness sake, stop blogging for at least an hour and do some exercise!

My sister-in-law gave this article to me. We have the same problem. Our unico-hijos sleep late and wake up late. I know there are moms, dads, neighbors, siblings, other relatives, online buddies, who have the predicament: a person dear to them who sleeps late. What better way to jolt these late-sleepers into sleeping earlier. Read On. I copy and paste.

From 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm: is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic chemicals from the antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an unrelaxed state, this will have a negative impact on health.

From 11 pm - 1 pm: is the detoxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.

From 1 pm - 3 pm: detoxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.

From 3 am - 5 am: detoxification in the lungs. There will sometimes be a severe cough for couhg sufferers during this time. Since the detoxification process had reached the respiratory tract. There is no need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.

From 5 am - 7 am: detoxification in the colon. You should empty your bowel.

From 7 am - 9 am: absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. You should be having breakfast at this time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30 am, for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30 am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who skip breakfast should change their habits. It is still better to eat breakfast late unit 9 am - 10 am rather than no meal at all.

Sleeping so late and waking up late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood.

Umm?! Does my body clock actually knows if its 9 pm? Okay antibody cells! Time to eliminate those toxins! Is our music on? Is our host relaxed? Stop! It's 11:00 pm! Time to detoxify the liver. And so it goes on until the morning.

I don't know if these are true but I do know that sleeping early and getting up early are healthy habits. Right?!

I blogged yesterday that my cpu is up and running that was why I was catching up on missed tags and awards. Blogging that was a mistake. Overnight, I got tagged, five times! Since three tags are all the same, I'll just combine all the links in one tag.

1. Make new friends around the world.2. Feel the Link Love.3. Gain new readers and subscribers.

Rules:

1. Copy from ~start copying here ~ to ~ end copying here ~ and paste it on your blog.2. At the end of the list, put your name and the country your in, it doesn’t matter what’s your nationality just put the country where you are publishing your blog. Don’t forget to put links at your name.3. If u have many blogs, you can link all of it, just make sure you post the same on each blog.4. Tag eight (8) or more of your blog friends.5. Tip for blogspot users: make sure you copy and paste the code in Compose mode.

Wanna join, and you can’t find your name on the list? Just leave a comment here.